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Trends in Security Information
The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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Supply chain cybersecurity: a sometimes overlooked essential to securing your business.
Although most organizations have learned to pay attention to their security policies and standards, this is usually limited to the boundaries of their own organization. They keep their software up to date as much as possible, install multifactor authentication, remove software and systems that are no longer used, restrict the rights of employees, draw up a ‘cyber response plan’ and regularly have a security test performed on the most important (information) systems. This is all very important, but no longer enough to keep away the cyber threat.
Increasingly, cybercriminals are hacking into their end targets through suppliers and business partners. Suppliers of components or consultants who need access to their customers’ corporate networks have effectively become a risk vector just like the hostile hackers themselves. If attackers want to hit a wellsecured company, they often take the easy way in and pick a random and less secure company that has a relationship with the target. It is often not even necessary to gain direct access to the main target: because parts of the intellectual property or ‘digital assets’ are housed within the supply chain, an attack on the supplier can already have the intended effect. In addition, a disruption often affects the supply chain with sometimes unpredictable and significant consequences.
So, what do you do when that network becomes both your protector and your attacker? CISOs need to balance what is required in their security policies and program on the one hand, with the acceptance of a risk that simply has to be taken to move the business forward on the other. Take cloud services for instance: they are a godsend for many companies when it comes to storing and managing large amounts of data or processing power but at the same time a new avenue of entry for cybercriminals. It can lead to missed opportunities and inappropriate spending when security teams stall cloud initiatives because of unfounded concerns or traditional security paradigms about cloud security. Alertness is required for both providers and buyers of cloud services. That this is not always the case was demonstrated in 2020 when researchers found that as many as 91 percent of enterprise cloud environments had a security gap. Cloud companies and CISOs must continue to engage with each other on cybersecurity.
Although the challenges are enormous, it is possible for organizations to prepare for outside attacks. In addition to all the technical control measures, it is helpful for the short term to study current best practices (see box below) from other industries. Internally, a good dialogue at the board level can help to get a better idea of the importance of cybersecurity, one’s own risks, and the effectiveness of existing control measures. Think of a regular check on the information security policy, the risk matrix, recommendations from the internal and external audit; even if there are no current problems.
Innovation is also important: organizations must close the gap with the attacker, for example by making smarter use of insights into network traffic (detecting anomalous patterns) and sharing cyber threat intelligence, both internally and externally. And look at whether there are opportunities for publicprivate partnerships around security: what can you collectively embrace as a sector that will result in being faster, better, or cheaper?